Wednesday Morning Live: Barkley questions LeBron

January 11, 2012|By Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun Sentinel

(TO COMMENT, CLICK ON "COMMENTS" TOP LEFT) — Fresh off his appearance on "Saturday Night Live," Charles Barkley changed mediums Wednesday, but continued with a familiar theme: LeBron James as passive superstar.

Asked on Chicago's "Waddle & Silvy Show" about the Heat forward failing to even attempt a single shot in the fourth quarter of Tuesday's overtime loss to the Golden State Warriors, Barkley said it was just more of the same.

"I think LeBron James' personality is he just defers," he told the ESPN radio affiliate.

Barkley said it was no surprise that when Dwyane Wade returned from a three-game absence due to a bruised left foot, James' scoring total went down.

"He went from scoring 30 points a game last week when Dwyane was out to when Dwyane came back, he stepped back a little bit," Barkley said. "I tell people, LeBron James is a great, great player. But I think he's just one of those nice guys, 'Well Dwyane's back, I'm going to defer to him.'

"That's all it could be. To not take a shot . . .

"My personal opinion is he just doesn't have an aggressive personality."

Barkley said it simply might be who LeBron is.

"You saw when Dwyane was out, LeBron had like monster games," Barkley said, with James named NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week each of the first two weeks of the season, even while missing a game last week due to a sprained left ankle. "He almost averaged a triple-double.

"He's a really nice guy. I've said that before. LeBron James is just a really nice guy."

James said following the loss to the Warriors that he simply was playing as a facilitator, praising the open looks the Heat got for the likes of Mario Chalmers.